Newburgh Brewing Company

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer is lending a hand to jumpstart the efforts of a not-for-profit cooperative to produce organic hops for New York’s craft breweries. The New York Democrat says he would like to see a site in Dutchess County become a major hop yard.

Schumer dropped by Dutchess Hops, the core of the cooperative, in Lagrangeville on Monday.

He spoke about how New York in the mid-1800s was a leading producer of hops, but fell victim to changes in climate conditions, blight, and: